Tech-like abbreviations are pervasive here, even outside the tech industry, and the two in the title refer to the San Francisco Symphony and its conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas. My husband and I heard them perform in Davies Symphony Hall Saturday, from the portion of the Terrace seating that wraps around the orchestra. We were directly behind the second violins, slightly above the conductor’s line-of-sight, adding a new twist to the joy of hearing a live performance of a world-class orchestra playing in perfect synchrony, something we hadn’t done in a record seven months.

From that vantage point, the action in the percussion section was pretty distracting. The 21st-century piece included extensive use of the musical whip, which I only remember hearing in the Boston Pops chestnut Sleigh Ride. The first few times the tam tam was used, one fellow stroked it on one side with what looked like a metal scribe, while at the same time another guy facing away from the instrument tapped it at thigh level behind himself, with a soft-headed mallet held in his extended right arm. The vibraphone was both struck and bowed, including simultaneous bowing on both the front and the back by one musician wielding two bows; the bow was oriented vertically and drawn across the end of the bar.

There was a three-sided scaffolding of at least 30 hanging tuned gongs, a few more lying on a waist-level platform, and a collection of mallets in various sizes, one of which had a head that looked like a small American football. One lucky musician got to stand in the middle of this structure scrutinizing the music, occasionally choosing a mallet and a gong and giving one or two quick strikes. I was observing him a lot, and felt I could rarely discern the results. My hearing? Terrace acoustics?

The orchestral star of the first piece–the soloist was a violinist–was a cimbalom, an orchestral version of our folk friend, the hammered dulcimer. We had not realized one could play a hammered dulcimer while reading music.* The virtuosity of this fellow was impressive: in his hands, this instrument had expressive and dynamic ranges that challenge those of the violin. No key signature was left behind.

I think one appeal of percussionists is that they play the instruments of childhood–the triangle, the xylophone, the drums–for good money in beautiful venues. The triangle is my special favorite, perhaps because the orchestral version so closely resembles the one found in elementary school music rooms. Seeing a fellow wearing a tuxedo and holding a triangle sends a shiver of anticipation down my spine, especially at such close quarters. He was good too, striking it, stroking it, varying the pace, working all three angles. And he was doubling tambourine! Dream Job.

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* JK, hammered-dulcimer-playing friends!